"Daughter Of Babylon,
The True History of
The Worldwide Church of God"
by Bruce Renehan

Chapter 13

The Former and the Latter Rain

Years after the Church of Christ was founded by Gilbert
Cranmer, the organizational name was changed to "Church of God."
Headquarters was in Stanberry, Missouri. Later we would find maverick
ministers who would loosely associate themselves with headquarters and teach
a slightly modified version of the teachings of the General Conference. This
brings us to the story of one such minister.

It had been several years after the Depression had ended.
He had started his magazine on a shoestring budget, and even though he did
not go out of his way to ask for contributions, his magazine had enjoyed a
fair amount of success. In fact, he had even published this statement once:

...that this movement to bring the truth of God before
the people will not be launched as another begging machine...We can say for
the past years, God has in a most marvelous way opened the way for us to
accomplish what we have in the printing of books, and also now begin the
printing of this paper, thus far we have not seen it necessary to ask any
one for means.

He prospered in spite of his rather unusual brand of
Christianity. He taught that the whole law of Moses was never abolished.
Even the holy days of ancient Israel were still to be observed. In fact,
ancient Israel could be found in these modern times. This teaching was not
entirely what the church leaders in Stanberry would have agreed upon. He
taught about one true church and a false system called Babylon the Great in
Revelation 17. This false system comprised the Roman Catholic Church and
what he called "Protestantism".

Of all his teachings, prophecy seemed to be what he
emphasized the most. He taught that the millennium was about to occur. At
times he had gone so far as to set dates for the tribulation and return of
Christ.

The Work was growing and now this minister looked for
greener pastures.

There is a wide field and an open door in California
for the message. We are thankful indeed for the success thus far. It now
looks like capable help will be left to carry forward the work. Every day
our vision of both the truth and the greatness of the work enlarges in our
mind.

The work had started humbly among humble people, but now
was growing. The editor of the fledgling magazine and leader of this
independent Sabbath-keeping Church of God felt it was important to announce
to his subscribers now that the work was "leaving the state." It
would be going to Pasadena:

Through an invitation of Sister Drury we are now
located in her home town, Pasadena. Elder Leland and wife assist us in the
meetings here.

This particular magazine had carried the lead article
entitled "Christ and the Passover." This article stated that
Christians were to observe the Passover on the 14th day of the Jewish
calendar and that,

The manner of its observance is as follows:

"Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the
first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses:"

The second article simply asked,

IS THERE A TRUE CHURCH ORGANIZATION?

...How are we to determine who are the true Elijah? John
was the man who fulfilled it in his day, for Christ said he did. But it is
to be more fully fulfilled in our day all will admit...

...When you find a teacher who takes the whole Bible,
leaving nothing to be abolished, one who has God's form of organization and
church government. In short one who teaches Moses and the prophets in full
as they taught and practiced, such a one will come much nearer filling the
prophecy among present existing denominations, for it must be started by
some individual and developed by some one individual, for that is God's way
of doing. Next, that individual must have a sound doctrine in all their
teaching and proclaim the whole council of God, regardless of any. Now look
out for such a work; if it is not to be found, then Elijah has not yet come.
The Jews did not know it when it was before their eyes. So it may be now.

Evidence Whereby to Judge the True Messenger.

First. Any one fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi as
representative of Elijah must have some thing definite as already
stated...John "spake as one having authority." A true messenger
has some thing positive and knows whereof he speaks.

Second. The very character of the message is given us.
Namely, it is based on repentance and an immediate preparation to meet the
Lord...

Third. John was a prophet...

Fourth. It will not be given by any sect or denomination.
John was free from them all.

Fifth. Malachi especially gives the law of Moses as a part
of that message.

History does tend to repeat itself. The story above is a
proof of that.

Yes, the Great Depression of the 19th century had ended in
1897. There would be another Great Depression 30 years later.

The date was June, 1919 and the maverick minister was a
man by the name of G. G. Rupert. Rupert was an independent minister of the
Church of God, (Seventh Day) who published his "Remnant of Israel"
in Britton, Oklahoma. The above quotes were taken out of his magazine.

The first issue of "Remnant of Israel" appeared
in April of 1915. In that issue Rupert's lead article began by establishing
the identity of ancient Israel.

On page 3, he wrote of his doctrine of the "former
and latter rain." This doctrinal stance is a careful weaving of the
ministries of Christ and Moses together.

Turning first to the writings of Moses, where we find
the foundation of all gospel truth, we read: "Give ear, O ye heavens,
and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine
shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass"...[Deut.
32:1-5] tells us plainly what the rain is, namely, the doctrine of the Lord
or the fundamentals governing the Christian's life...

Christ pictured himself in a parable as a sower scattering
seeds. According to Rupert, the plants that sprang from the seed were the
people; the former rain was the ministry of John the Baptist and the latter
rain was Rupert's own self-proclaimed ministry.

Rupert had noticed that there are also many scriptural
references to harvests and blessings in the Old Testament. Rupert did not
believe that there was a New Testament dispensation. He felt that what was
delivered to Moses was to be observed by those to whom Christ later came to
preach. Of Christ's reference to Moses, Rupert quoted from a book written by
Rabbi L. Weiss, "Did Christianity supersede Judaism?"

"No matter how he condemned the conduct and
dealings of the Pharisees, the law of Moses was still his ideal."

Rupert, himself, had written:

...The outpouring of the Holy spirit was a witness to
their development and of the work that had been going on for four years in
the falling of the early rain prior to the event. This work of teaching
began with John the Baptist, and followed up by Christ and His disciples,
was the former rain, and when that rain of doctrinal teaching had developed
the growth of the individuals and prepared their minds to receive the
witness of the Spirit, then God witnessed to it, and we lay down this
principle now as an eternal truth unalterable, and it is useless to attempt
to change it: namely, no such demonstration as on the Day of Pentecost can
possibly take place as a genuine thing, in our day until the genuine
doctrines of the Bible precedes the manifestation and develops a company of
united believers.

Rupert felt that if the people would only return to the
doctrines of Moses, they would be watered as tender plants. They would be
receiving the latter rain.

Rupert did not stop with the ten commandments. He felt
that it was wrong to put a break between the Old and New Testaments. To G.
G. Rupert, it had not been the intent of God to do so. To him, the Bible was
one complete package for mankind.

Hebrew holydays, clean and unclean meats, Sabbaths, and
tithing were all in force for the followers of Rupert. Teaching these
doctrines would be the latter rain and coincidentally, this teaching would
be doing the work of Elijah, of whom John the Baptist was a type during the
former rain period.

Rupert also had a particularly interesting view of
prophecy. He believed that the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 were
none other than seven church "eras". The dates did not all
correspond with those of the Worldwide Church of God. Sardis, he felt, began
in 1798. Philadelphia was the period of William Miller: 1833 to 1844.
Laodicea had begun in 1844 and would last until the end time.

As far as the nature of man, he taught that man did not
have an immortal soul. Quoting Ecclesiastes 9:4-5 and Psalms 146:4, he used
the same scriptures Armstrong cited in his ministry.

What did Rupert say of others who professed Christianity
outside of his following?

The Bible says these denominations are Babylon and we
do not hesitate to say they are not the legitimate churches of Jesus Christ.
God's church and His creed are as different as day is from night.

Rupert died shortly before Herbert Armstrong was
introduced to the Church of God, (Seventh-Day) but there is no doubt that
Armstrong carefully studied all of the writings that Rupert had left behind.
Rupert's literature had been discovered in Armstrong's home on various
occasions by church employees, one of whom was Mike Hollman, ex-department
head for Armstrong's data processing center, of whom we will read later.

In a sermon delivered to the Worldwide Church of God in
August of 1992, Joseph Tkach Jr. was speaking about Herbert Armstrong's
misunderstanding of the doctrine of being "born again." This is
one of the many doctrines that the Tkach administration came to adamantly
disagree with Armstrong on. In this sermon Joe Tkach Jr. referred to
Armstrong's reliance on scholars for doctrinal understanding.

Mr. Armstrong relied upon the scholars. His favorite
Bible was the Scofield Bible. Why? Because Dr. C. I. Scofield was one of the
scholars he respected. He relied upon that scholar's work more than other
scholar's works.

Mr. Armstrong was a fan of others like Jamieson, Fausset
and Brown; Charles Finney, the noted theologian of a previous century; of
Rupert; of other names I could name to you. But, these are scholars. He
relied upon them.

The problem with Rupert's doctrines was that he tried to
synthesize a biblical dichotomy, Judaism and Christianity, by declaring that
they were both the same religion. True to his Millerite leanings, he focused
on prophecies in Revelation and Daniel.

True to Seventh-Day Adventist influences, he ascribed a
mystical importance to the observance of the seventh day of the week. And it
did have an importance, in that it was rooted in Moses and therefore,
Judaism. For example, when he read where Paul had asked the Gentiles to
"abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from
things strangled and from blood," his comment was:

This last clause is repeated several times in the law
of Moses; are these not all evidences that Christianity was never intended
to be at variance with Judaism much less opposed.

In doing this he overlooked other passages in scripture
(e.g., the circumcision controversy). Rupert's focus was on Moses being the
central theme of scripture for the Christian. This is not Christianity as
much as it is Judaism. Christ is the centrality of scripture for the
Christian.

Rupert again referred to Rabbi Weiss:

It seems to us too bad that these who contend for the
binding obligations of the ten commandments and the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment are compelled to leave untouched so many scriptures some of
which Mr. Weiss refers to which could be used to close the mouths of those
who teach that the law was abolished and nailed to the cross, a doctrine
which there is not a scriptural text to sustain.

Armstrong, too would use Rupert's claim that the
"nailing the law to the cross" statement was not scriptural. The
statement is false.

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it
to his cross; (Col. 2:14)

This reference was clearly concerning the Mosaic law.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or
in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days;

Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of
Christ. (verses 16 and 17)

Paul made a separation of the Old and New Testaments and
said that the Old was no longer binding; it was "abolished."

And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that
the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is
abolished:

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth
the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament: which vail
is done away in Christ. (II Cor. 3:13-14)

But like the first century Judaizers, these nineteenth
century Millerites again wanted to make Jew and Gentile one by shifting
their focus to Moses rather than Christ. As we had seen in an earlier
chapter, Paul had condemned the practice of Judaizing--that is, the forcing
of the observances of the law upon Gentiles.

The Pauline view, drawn from the New Testament, is that
Mosaic covenants were nullified when gentiles were allowed to become
Christians, pagan religion was not to be feared, and the Jews were now just
another religion.

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain
the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might
gain them that are under the law; (I Cor. 9:20)

This distinction between Judaism and Christianity has been
understood by Christians throughout the Protestant reformation.